Demand for IT services has helped outsourcing become one of the highest grossing industries in the UK, research has shown.

Outsourced activities nearly adds to the UK economy as much as financial services in 2009. Credit: Oxford Economics/Business Services Association

IT and data services provided by British-based businesses generate revenues of about £41.7bn per year, more than any other outsourcing sector in the UK, according to the report, titled The size of the UK outsourcing market - across the private and public sectors.

Overall, outsourcing generates about £207bn each year, roughly eight percent of the annual output of the UK economy, making the industry almost as big as the financial services sector, researchers from Oxford Economics found.